Got the winter blues? Cheer up with these colorful winter-blooming plants for your garden
Winters can be long for the gardener. I learned that the hard way after moving to Maine in the late '90s. There, you see a full leaf drop by Columbus Day, and then it's Flag Day before all the shade trees are at full leaf again. That’s a long, long winter.
And we can wax on all day long about the delicate grays and tawny shades of the colder season but let’s face it, it ain’t got nothin’ on a big, honkin’ peony in full and splendid bloom.
But winter isn’t, or at least doesn’t have to be, all tawny and gray. For those who plan judiciously, the next two months can be full of all kinds of color. It just takes a little faith.
One of the problems with getting homeowners to buy winter-blooming plants is that they quite simply aren’t in bloom when people are in the garden centers. I mean who’s out there in the middle of January or February looking for an open garden center and a chance to walk the frozen aisles of mostly dormant shrubs?
OK, maybe I know a few people like that. But we all know they’re not normal.
Most of us wait until the last two weeks before the Kentucky Derby (except for the tomato transplant buyers who are all out there the first of April looking to be the first) to cruise those nurseries. And how do most people decide what to buy at those nurseries? Whatever is in bloom at the time, of course. Who wants to bring home a green blob in a black pot?
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By the time garden center season is upon us, all those fabulous winter-blooming plants have long since given up the charge. They did their thing, providing the glimmer of hope to get us through the long dark days. And then they quietly slid into the background for the remainder of the growing season.
So that’s the rub. We need to know what to look for and then — and this is the important part — we need to summon a little faith in the unassuming green thing in a pot. We need to know that we can hold up to the disgruntled looks from non-gardening spouses/partners who don’t have the faith. “What’s the green blob in the pot on the driveway?”
So to give you at least the opportunity to point a finger of blame at the guy in the paper who recommends those green blobs, here are a few of my favorites for the winter garden. These are among the best selections for anybody looking to take a first step out of the normal, run of the mill garden plants.
Witchhazel
One is blooming in my home garden right now, and the other will be open in a few weeks. We have five varieties blooming at Yew Dell Botanical Gardens as I type these words. That’s right . . . large, brightly colored blooms covering whole plants in the first week of January! Not only that, they’ll likely stay in bloom for two months or more. And most have a fantastically sweet fragrance.
The witchhazels belong to the taxonomic family Hamamelidaceae. There is one North American native species that blooms yellow in the fall (Hamamelis virginiana), but all others bloom sometime between New Year’s Day and about the first week of April. The vernal witchhazel (H. vernalis) has smallish, brick red to coppery colored and sweetly smelling flowers that emerge late January through much of March. There are several Asian species (H. japonica and H. mollis) that also bloom in winter and can carry colors from deep red to orange and intense or powdery yellow. The best forms are the hybrids that include some combination of all the winter bloomers.
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Most witchhazels grow to 8-12-feet tall and wide, do best in full sun and just about any reasonable soil. They are durable, long-lived plants that can be used in a variety of garden styles. Just remember that they bloom on the previous season’s growth, so hold off with those pruners until after bloom time.
Some of our favorites at Yew Dell include the varieties "Diane" (red), "Orange Beauty" (orange) and "Wisley Supreme" (yellow), but there are dozens out there that can turn gray and tawny on their collective head and sparkle all through the winter.
Hellebores
For the herbaceous plant gardener, this is the biggest no-brainer for Kentucky gardens. Evergreen foliage, deer-proof constitution, shade and sun tolerance — they have it all.
The very first hellebores tend to poke their heads up about the first of January, although we’ve had some jump ahead of the Times Square ball drop. Most open mid- to late-January and bloom through early April. And one of the great things about hellebores is that they also make great cut flowers, allowing you to bring the garden inside during this cold part of the year.
Most members of the genus Helleborus hail from Asia through the Caucasus Mountains. They grow about 15-inches tall and wide, divide easily and make plenty of seedling babies to share with their friends. While usually sold as shade plants, they can take a fair amount of sun as long as it isn’t the hot afternoon sun in the peak of summer.
But of course, the show is the flowers. The Christmas rose (H. niger) blooms white only and before the leaves emerge. Each bloom is about 2-3-inches across except the variety ‘Maximus’ that might reach 4-inches. Christmas Rose is usually the first of the hellebores to bloom.
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The most popular form is Helleborus xhybridus which represents a bit of Heinz 57 mixture of species that are all quite similar. These tend to bloom a bit later than the Christmas Rose, so get the common name of Lenten Rose. Bloom color can range from white to yellow, pink and deep burgundy. There are also double flowered and multi-colored forms. There are scores of varieties out there but I’ve yet to find a dud.
So there you have it. Not only a few things to brighten your winter garden but also someone to blame for the purchase. How else can I help?
Yew Dell Botanical Gardens, 6220 Old Lagrange Road, yewdellgardens.org.